A legacy
by Soulnight
Summary: Veronica never expected to summoned as a hero for a Kiran of another timeline. She had answered the call though and perhaps it was a chance to correct her past mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

How long had she traveled like this?

How long had it been since she had tossed away her own name?

How long had it been since she became a nameless wanderer?

It had been about 2-3 years maybe, but she had long since lost tracking of the days. It was likely that she would never find out. Not like she ever deserved it.

She stoked the fire in front of her with what precious little wood she had left. The ground alcove she took rested in was sleek with ice but was thankfully spared from the unrelenting winds of Nifl.

It was colder here than she once remembered all those years ago. It was an empty place now. Only wild beasts remained. Very few people were left after the war and those remaining simply chose to leave.

That was her fault of course. There were times when she had questioned whether her choices were caused from the accursed blood in body or just her plain stupidity. She should've known better than to build an alliance with a maniacal king. His flames, his hatred, his fury, were beyond something that she could have ever controlled.

If she had chosen differently, she would've never been taken to be offered to the flames. She would've never had to see her own protector burned alive. Never had to see her brother take part in that accursed ritual to oppose the flames.

She wished that she could've been the one to kill the mad king and been the one to snuff the life out of his very eyes, but no fate would not be so kind. His death would come at the hand of others, but not without a great price. To ensure his defeat they themselves had to ensure their own.

With no one left to oppose her, with those who her blood compelled to hunt no longer of this world, she was finally left to her own devices. All that left her with was a broken kingdom and lands all around now empty of people. Without her blood compelling her and without the desire to conquer, she had little use to what was left to her. So, she gave it to a more reasonable retainer that might do something productive, threw her away her name after taking it out from the history books, and left it all behind.

Wolves began howling in the distance.

She huddled against her horse for a bit more warmth and gripped her staff Hliðskjálf, and closely held a large satchel nearly as tall as herself against her chest.

It was a mistake to come back here, yet she had to. This was the last place that remained on this continent, that last place where she might find something that her brother had left behind.

Eventually the howls went away, gone in the distant winds. She laid her head against her horse, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep.

This was the last place she would wander through. Whether or not she found something of her brother remaining her journey would end there, just as his had. She would make sure of that.

* * *

Something was strange

The floor was hard, but it wasn't nearly as cold as it had been the night before. The light that shined through her eye lids were blue and dim, nothing like the sharp light of a rising sun.

The nameless wanderer opened her eyes and saw stone rather than snow. The walls, which she now realized were part of castle were quaintly decorated and quite familiar.

Had she been captured? Taken to some forgotten structure in the lands of Nifl.

No, she quickly threw that thought away. If she had been captured then they wouldn't have left her with her horse, weapon, and conspicuously large satchel.

Perhaps she had died? Frozen to death in the middle of the night?

If she did then the monks at Embla certainly owed her an apology. Hel wasn't nearly as bad as they had described it and certainly wouldn't have warranted giving her nightmares of the place as a young child.

"Ahem"

She finally realized that wasn't alone in the room. In fact, she could hear hushed whispers behind her from behind the horse she was currently using as a pillow.

"They've been hiding behind that horse for a while," a voice said. It sounded like an adult male, one that she had not heard in a long time.

"Maybe they're shy?" another voice called out. That one she did recognize. How she could ever forget the bright voice filling with energy behind each and every word. But that was impossible, that voice should've no longer existed.

"Sharena I hardly think that one deemed to be a Brave hero would be shy. They're probably still recovering from the shock of being summoned."

"But Alfonse it usually doesn't take this long!"

Summoned? Her? It couldn't be? She knew it was possible to summon others, heroes from entirely different timelines, but there was no was way that she could ever be considered a hero. It was just impossible.

Maybe she was in Hel. Maybe this was some sort of twisted illusion she was trapped in that was meant to torture her for all eternity. It was certainly a better explanation then her being a hero summoned to fight for Askr!

"Maybe they're just taking their sweet time," the unknown man called out. She didn't know him, but she could swear that she could hear him shrug behind her. "It would probably be best if we let them know why they were summoned."

"You're right Kiran!"

That bright cheerful voice somehow got even brighter and more cheerful.

"It's alright you were summoned here so we could all be friends!"

"For the last time that is not the reason we're summoning heroes."

"Fine… I'm Sharena, he's Alfonse, and this is Kiran our summoner. We summoned you here so you could help us in our fight against the Surtr the king of Muspell. He's already destroyed two kingdoms so far and won't stop until the entire land is burned in fire. Is that a good enough explanation for you Alfonse?"

"Perfectly fine," Alfonse grumbled.

"Why me then?" she lowered her voice so that the three wouldn't immediately recognize her. "Why was I summoned to help?"

"Because you're a hero," Sharena said confidently. "Could you tell us your name?"

A hero. That was what she had become apparently, and a hero needed a name. She took a deep breath and searched for the name that she had left unsaid for so long. The name that she had once hoped would remain forever forgotten.

"Veronica"


	2. Chapter 2

Left past the weapons room, cut straight through the library, and then turn take the secondary door through the kitchen and pantry. Veronica had quickly figured out that that was the quickest path to the cafeteria from the room she had been given that very few people ever took.

Apart from the assassins of course. Veronica had become rather attentive of her surroundings after the years she had spent wandering. She had to after the third or so attack by a wild animal, so it wasn't too difficult for her to discern the presence of assassin trailing her from the rafters above.

Veronica did her best to ignore them as she entered the library. They had likely been following orders given to them by Alfonse. He had always the cautious of the royal siblings

Honestly though, both this world's Kiran and Sharena could've learned a thing or two about caution. It seemed rather idiotic to give her of all people free rein among the Order of Heroes. Breidablik would stop her from doing anything that harmed or went against her summoner, it was how they kept the more morally questionable "heroes" in line, but she used to the princess of Embla in her world. The same country with the magic to create portals and summon heroes from the other world much like a certain relic did.

It wouldn't be very hard for her to tamper with the holy relic. She was no longer a child, despite what other heroes in the order might believe, and had some mastery over the limited power in her blood that she still had left.

Not that she would ever take advantage of that fact, but this world's Kiran especially would need to be a bit more pragmatic if they were to survive the war with Surtr. Though Alfonse and Sharena were just as she vaguely remembered them the Kiran of this world was vastly different from the one that once existed in her world.

For one this Kiran was a man. Not only that but he also loved telling bad jokes and constantly dragged out and used a chalkboard any time he wanted to explain something remotely complicated to a group of people. He certainly loved his lectures, something that Veronica had the misfortune of learning first hand during her first few days in Askr.

"Hello Veronica!" a young girl called out.

Veronica stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face the green haired child. Nino was a hero from her world that had been quite difficult to forget. In her previous world Nino had been the same age as her though that meant little to the destruction that she personally created on the battlefield. Despite her childlike innocence she was as capable as any mage in the Order of Heroes which was even more surprising because she was only just begun learning how to read. Even without a proper study she just had a natural affinity to the art and likely had plenty of untapped potential that could now be utilized now that she had other mages mentoring her.

"What do you want Nino," Veronica replied curtly.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to eat dinner with me"

"Dinner?" Veronica asked.

"Yes Dinner. You're always coming through here with your food and it seems lonely just eating by yourself all the time."

"So you want to eat with me"

"Just the two of us if that makes you feel comfortable"

Veronica decided not to inform Nino of the two other assassins that currently shadowed the young child in the rafters above. Including Veronica's own that would be three that would follow them once they got over the initial confusion of running into each other.

"If you wish," was Veronica's reply. It wasn't the first time she was asked to hang out with the more affable heroes, though it was much harder to refuse a child. Nino was also one of the few heroes that she didn't feel discomfort around.

Veronica went straight for the library exit with Nino and three other assassins following closely behind.

"How have you been?" Nino asked her as they briskly walked through the hallway.

"Fine," was Veronica's quick reply.

"Is there anything you like doing for fun?"

"Nothing"

There was a moment of silence as Nino struggled to find another topic to speak of.

"You horse is really nice. You take really good care of it."

"I did." The only reason why Veronica had taken up healing magic in the first place was that she could keep her one horse moving in her travels. She could count on one hand the number of times she had ever used her magic on actual people in those last few years.

"You know Florina's been teaching me how to ride on a Pegasus. Riding on a Pegasus was a little scary at first but it's a whole lot of fun."

"I'm glad you're having fun," Veronica replied honestly. Back in her previous world she had only ever seen Nino on the battlefield. She was often covered in the blood her enemies and her family that had fought with their lives to protect her. In the end they truly did give up their lives for her. It was only when the three of them, her brothers and her protector, had fallen among a sea of enemies did an arrow finally pierce the young girl's chest. It was one of many events in the war against Muspell that Veronica didn't want to have repeat.

"You could join me. It isn't that different from riding a horse"

"Maybe another time," Veronica replied. She went through the kitchen and opened the door to the pantry only to find a certain silver haired maiden snacking on package of cookies. And of course, hovering over the maiden was a fourth assassin that was quickly accepted into the group above them. It seemed to be a recurring theme around this place.

Micaiah blushed as she hastily swallowed the treats in her mouth. "This isn't what it looks like."

"I don't care if you're stealing from the pantry," Veronica replied

Micaiah wiped the crumbs off her face, put the bag of cookies to the side, and quickly brushed the crumbs off her clothes. She stood up straight and looked as regal as she usually did. As she did when she burned by the unrelenting flames of Surtr. Defiant and strong to the very end. A true hero, something that Veronica could never consider herself being..

"They're special treats that belong to me. I had them hidden due to certain individuals in the Order"

"You hid them in the pantry?" Nino asked.

Even Veronica had to raise an eyebrow to that

"People don't check the vegetables. At least that's what Sothe told me. Anyway, may I ask what you two are doing here?"

"We're going to get dinner and eat together. Do you want to join us?" Nino asked cheerfully before Veronica could stop her.

"I will," Micaiah replied.

Veronica repressed a long sigh. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Do you have anything to report about Veronica," Green would ask Gauis as they followed the girls out of the room along with Angel and Cleans.

It wasn't a particularly tough job for Gaius to follow the new Brave Hero as Alfonse had ordered him to in exchange for a bag of treats. All Sulks did was travel go to her room, cafeteria, and stable. Hardly anything suspicious about her apart from that large satchel she kept stored away in her room. He had tried to get a good look at the thing, but her room was filled with all sorts of nasty magical traps.

"Nothing apart from that satchel of hers," Gauis replied.

"You've been following her for three days and you still haven't found out what's inside. It could be a weapon used to kill the summoner for all we know"

"You wanna try breaking into her room Green?" It would take more than a satchel of butterscotches to have Gaius try and infiltrate that particular deathtrap. Those cookies that Birdy had hidden away might've been enough to get him to do that, unfortunately Green had stopped him with a knife when he had tried to snatch it while she was distracted.

"Leave it. She had her chances but she didn't take them. Somethings or better off in the past," Angel said. Angel rarely spoke but when he said something then Gaius knew it would probably be a good idea to listen.

"Can't help but be curious as to what's inside though," Cleans would comment.

"I could check if I could get some of those special cookies," Gauis suggested.

"No," Green replied.

"Your loss"


	3. Chapter 3

Veronica raised her staff and carefully healed the wounds that Reinhardt had received from his recent strafe into enemy lines.

It was a bit different to heal humans rather than horses but thankfully she had plenty of practice in the barracks beforehand. There was no shortage of injured heroes and soldiers for healers such as her to treat after all. The only issue was why was she the healer that been deployed on this excursion into the tempest.

This Kiran was way too trusting. By all rights she should've been one of the last heroes, but for some reason Kiran in all his naivety had decided to deploy her instead of the countless other capable healers he had in his barracks. Granted staying at the backlines to act as support was the ideal position for any healer but to have her of all people being the only thing protecting the summoner from an axe to the skull seemed like very poor foresight indeed. There was no guarantee that her Emblam blood wouldn't compel her to kill the Kiran of this world even if it had remained silent for the last few years.

"You have the look of someone with much on their mind," the Thunder's Fist said with his deep, and admittingly smooth, voice. His tome crackled from the blasts of magic that he had sent at his enemies and his longsword was covered in the blood of those who had gotten close. For someone who declared that magic was everything he was surprisingly skilled with a sword in his own right.

"It doesn't matter," Veronica replied as she worked on the last of his wound, a cut he had received on his leg.

"I say this as an acquaintance rather than a soldier, it would do you well to find someone to confide in. I have seen too many suffer because they left themselves to face their troubles alone."

"Perhaps I deserve a little suffering for the things I have done. You've seen what I'm capable of, what I have done as a child." She finally finished closing the wound on his leg and turned away.

"There is always a chance for us to choose a different path. Why else were we summoned into this world?" Reinhardt replied before charging back into the battlefield.

"He's right you know," Kiran commented to Veronica as he observed the state of the multiple skirmishes their heroes had fought.

"I would prefer that you keep your business to yourself summoner," Veronica replied bluntly as she too surveyed the battle.

The excursion into the Tempest consisted of three groups of four heroes. Each group was led by Kiran, Robin, and Soren.

Robin's group, which consisted primarily fliers due to his experiences commanding them from his world, were best suited to guerilla style warfare. They would go in, take out the mages, and soften the enemy enough for the cavalry led by Kiran to completely run them down. Whatever stragglers remained that attempted to strike back would be quickly met with the heavy infantry that Soren led. The Radiant Hero Ike was especially making quick work of the enemy with his trusted strategist's orders.

Veronica, for her part in Kiran's group, stayed far back ready to heal injuries that any of the heroes would receive. Her mobility on her horse would allow to rush to the aid of those to grievously injured to come to her, though had yet to happen just yet so she mostly just stood in one spot and watched the fighting.

"Robin, Soren, report," Kiran shouted through the magical communication devices the strategists had been given.

"We have a squad of archers coming from the left flank. My team will have to fall back," Robin's voice would come out loudly enough for Veronica to hear. Archers were the bane of any flier but with Robin's group forced back Kiran's group would struggle to break through the front line and mages of the enemy.

"Understood," Kiran replied. "Soren I'll need your team to intercept those archers. By the way where's Corrin? She seems to be missing from your group."

Veronica could see Soren shake his head in the distance. "The boneheaded dragon said she had a plan. Would've denied her the chance had she not gotten the support of a certain sword wielding mercenary."

"She was a leader in her world. It wouldn't hurt to give her a chance," Ike's voice could be heard through Soren's communicator.

"And to this day I still wonder how she possibly led her soldiers to victory," Soren replied

"Uh… I think I found her," Veronica replied. She pointed toward the pegasus Nino rode which had acquired another passenger in addition to the rider.

"I've got the archers!" Corrin shouted as Nino flew her Pegasus high above the group of archers. Though Nino flew high enough that even the arrows couldn't reach her that also meant that she was out of range for her magic.

"What is she planning to do?" Veronica asked the summoner.

They were answered by Corrin jumping off the Pegasus, using her Dragonstone to transform midflight, and barreling her entire weight as a dragon right onto the group of archers. Even though the soldiers were spectral figures created by the Tempest, Veronica couldn't help but feel sorry for them as about 800 pounds of dragon fell onto their heads and started to tear them apart.

"That is the stupidest plan I've ever seen enacted and yet it actually seems to be working," Soren said.

"I don't know seems brilliant to me," Ike commented

"Oh, shut up"

* * *

"I wonder if we could have swordsman or a spearman sit on your back as you transform," Ike suggested to Corrin as Veronica healed her wounds. "The rider could help cover your blind spots"

"I had actually considered having people ride the manaketes and taguel. The strategic benefits of such a formation could be quite useful though I could never find anyone willing to try it out," Robin replied

"I'd be willing," Corrin replied

"We are not doing that," Soren interrupted the three of them as he walked to the center of the group and rolled out a map onto the ground. "This is the area and unit layout of the next floor of the Tempest according to what information we could get from scouting"

Kiran looked at the map. "Lots of forest. Our cavalry won't be navigating through that easily."

"And we can't deploy our fliers if there really are that many archers there," Robin commented

"We'd have to make a slow march through the forests with our infantry then," Soren suggested

"A march like that is only going to tire our units out. We still have one final floor after this one, it would be disastrous if they went into it completely exhausted."

Veronica had to agree. Though she could mend injuries she could do little about physical and mental exhaustion. Though Olivia's dance would provide some relief it was only temporary at best.

"Could we drop them down like we did with Corrin?" Nino suggested

"Only dragons could survive that fall. The rest of our units would break most of their bones if they didn't end up getting tangled up the tree line," Soren replied.

"Well as long as we're not dropping people like bombs using our fliers to ferry them just outside the range of their archers could work. Used to do it all the time back in Ylisse," Robin replied

"It'll still take too long. We can rest as much as we want between floors, but the longer we spend battling them the more unstable the Tempest becomes," Kiran reminded them.

"It might be time to retreat then. We've made enough progress as it is," Soren replied.

"Breidablik is acting up again. I think with a bit more progress another hero would answer my call."

"If you're desperate for heroes then I have a small satchel of orbs you can use," Veronica finally butt in.

Everyone there looked at her.

"Even as a child I was collecting them among other artifacts," she informed them. There had been a time when she had considered harnessing the potential energy within the orbs herself back when the war with Askr was in full swing and even after the war ended, they had same monetary value among collectors. Unfortunately, when she had been summoned to this world, she had only been carrying around a small fraction compared to the hundreds she had kept in the treasury.

"We've already made so much progress though. If we could just a way to get through these last two floors…"

Veronica sighed. "This might be my cursed blood acting up again, but couldn't we just burn down the entire forest and wait here until the fire goes out?"

"… That might actually work. It's all a construct of the Tempest it's not like we're actually razing Askr land"

"The Tempest is still happening on Askr land. Alfonse might have some complaints about creating a massive forest fire in the middle of his country," Robin informed them

"Eh better to ask for forgiveness than permission," Kiran waved away Robin's worries. "Besides he's still back in the castle keeping an eye on things, its not like he has to know about this."

"You're asking us to lie to one of your closest allies?" Veronica raised an eyebrow to that.

"No not really. We're just not saying anything about this unless he brings it up," Kiran said in attempt to justify himself.

"Whatever you say then. You're the summoner," Veronica shook her head and took out an old wind tome that she still carried around with her. "Does anyone have a torch I can use?"


End file.
